Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

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Second Term Paper

                                                 Cinematic Fiction

Many animators study physics before they produce any animation in order to create a more believable story. Without studying and making the right decisions before animating the animator’s stories may not be as convincing, preventing audiences from being completely engrossed in the film. Watching a film with incorrect physics oftentimes makes the audience feel odd and makes them wonder what is wrong about the film. Good references and an understanding of how things work in relation to science and physics are the components of a successful film. Although there are various kinds of physics principles to learn that exist, the most commonly spotted mistake or modification of a physics principle is the center of gravity and balance within a subject. The majority of people can use their common sense and spot the part of a film is out of place due to incorrect physics with center or gravity and balance. Although it is important to stay true to real-life physics, sometimes deviation from the original physics principles is utilized in film to make stories unique or create a different feel to the world. In others, it just helps to play out with drama in the scene. There are countless films which misuse the physics principle of balance and the center of gravity; three movies which demonstrate this misuse are Back to the Future III, Final Fantasy, and My Neighbor Totoro.  Each of these films utilizes the bending of physics to add to their film. Although the audience may notice something is not right in the film, the overall production is enjoyable and creates an alternate world from the one we live in today.

            The first movie I am going to talk about is Back to the Future 3. This movie has three parts. The movie is about Marty Mcfly and Doc. Doc created a time machine and brought Mcfly with him and it mess up the whole time line and they have to go back and forth and fix the problems. In the third movie Doc met a girl and felt in love and the girl end up following her to the very end. She was chasing her on the train but strangely she fell and got caught on a pipe with her skirt. The gravity was is on the center of the body. The train was going 80 miles. She looks around more than 150lbs because of her big dress and her height. The tip of her dress was caught on the pipe which did not make sense because it look as if it was caught just a little bit and since because she looks a bit heavy most like that dress would rip and she would fall. Also when her feet is hanging on the pipe she was moving way to much which is a bit confusing how she can be so horizontally flowing off the train. Her hand was close to her stomach where her abs is. The hands were both together which is impossible if you were falling and caught just the tip of the dress. With her position and the center of the gravity she should be closer to the train then more outwards. If she had maybe pants instead of puffy she might be able to do that if she is flexible enough and caught on her feet instead not on pants.

            Back to the Future III is the third movie of a trilogy series based on a time-traveling duo Marty Mcfly and Doc. Doc created a time machine in the beginning of the series and they have just been going through different situations in each film. In this particular one, at the end they are on a locomotive train and Doc is trying to save Clara, a friend they met while living in an old Western town. The train has just accelerated to 80mph and she is being held onto the train by bottom of her dress and she is grasping onto a pipe (but she is mostly being held onto the train by her skirt). The tension within the scene is high, and the threat of her dress tearing leaving her to fall off the moving train adds to the drama. If you look at the screenshot, however, her center of gravity is in the middle of her body, but she appears to be almost completely horizontal. 

Falling off a train going 80mph, being supported by the strength of a dress does not allow much support for her to balance and be able to be in such an upright position, but she remains in an almos 45 degree angle. The way she is hanging off of the train makes it appear as if her center of gravity is closer to the train (indicated by the yellow line). If her center of gravity were closer to the train, it would be easier for her to balance herself on the train. However, since her center of gravity is farther from the train, it would be hard for her to balance in such an upright position if this really were to happen outside of a  motion picture.

             Another notable film, Final Fantasy, is an animation film based on a fantasy world. In this fantasy world, Cloud (the man with blonde hair) is seen driving an enormous, heavy motorcycle in the beginning of the film. It is safe to say that the center of gravity of the motorcycle and Cloud would be low and in the center of the vehicle.  Shortly after Cloud is introduced in the film, enemies start chasing after him starting a fight scene, complete with swords and everything. However, in this fantasy world, Cloud is able to wield a sword as big as himself and still drive the motorcycle. In this movie, the producer either made the sword seem weightless or he depicted Cloud as supernaturally strong because watching the film makes viewers forget about how heavy the sword would actually be in real life. This allowed Cloud to perform some impossible maneuverings that leave viewers stunned. In some of the shots, the physics principles of balance and center of gravity seem to be followed, however, in others, if we were to stop and think about how Cloud was actually staying upright on the bike, it would not make any sense. In the following screenshot, Cloud is shown drifting with the motorcycle, with the motorcycle and himself leaning in one direction, while utilizing the heavy sword to balance the bike and himself and change the center of gravity. 

Without the sword going in the opposite direction of Cloud and the bike, there would be no balance to the center of gravity so the bike would have toppled over to our right. However, the heavy sword brings the center of gravity back to a spot where Cloud is able to balance. In the next screenshot, Cloud is seen drifting, again, but this time without the sword as a counterweight.

This screenshot shows Cloud in an impossible pose with the motorcycle, the sword, and himself all tilting in the same direction. If the shot were to be turned so we were facing the front of the motorcycle, the motorcycle, the sword, and Cloud’s body would all be noticeably tilting in the same direction. This would be impossible for Cloud to be able to keep the bike in an upright position. His center of gravity would move away from the middle of the bike, and to a point in between the sword and Cloud, resulting in an imbalance causing the motorcycle to fall. Although this is incorrect, physically, it makes for a good movie and creates a more intense fighting sequence for audiences because Cloud is able to move faster with a seemingly “weightless sword” that does not affect his center of gravity some of the time. 

            Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro creates a magical world where things that do not happen in real life occur. This movie is about a family who moves to a town where there are forest spirits, one of which is named Totoro. One day one of the daughters discovers a couple of the forest spirits and tries to follow them. Watching the film, the forest spirits move quickly and are seen running and climbing. In one scene, the two forest spirits seem to slide across a steep rock without effort. This would be impossible in real life if the forest spirits were real. Their center of gravity seems to be different than what their expected center or gravity would be because they are able to walk in a position that is not normal for walking up a steep incline, which is depicted in the following screenshot. Miyazaki probably purposefully made them climb this way to make the forest spirits seem more magical. 

             The white forest spirit is walking completely perpendicular to the steep rock. If the expected center of gravity were the true center of gravity, this would be impossible. However, the forest spirit happily glides up the rock while the daughter climbs up the rock in the expected way with a normal estimated center or gravity shown in the next screenshot. With her center of gravity in place, the daughter is able to balance herself on the steep rock. 

All three of these movies show how the center of gravity and balance physics principles can be altered to create more drama, create never-before-seen things, and to create a different feeling for their world, A lot of these scenes are cinematic fiction and are not exact facts of science, however, the majority of the population will just accept what they see and not think twice about what may be wrong. Scenes based on fantasy or things that do not depict real life are what entertain people and is what sells. Anyone can see things shown with normal physics principles, but it takes imagination and creativity to break those rules and still create a believable story.

Outline of the Second Term Paper

Balance and Center of Gravity

Introduction

·        Oftentimes movies incorrectly demonstrate physics principles

·        One principle that is oftentimes easy to spot is when balance and center of gravity of the subject is off

·        It is often easy to notice this incorrectly used physics law as something usually just doesn’t look right

Body 1 – Back to the Future III

·        Clara’s center of gravity is about in the middle of her body

·        She is being held onto the train by her skirt and she is pulling on a pipe

·        She is sticking out too horizontally for her balance to be right on a train moving 80 miles/hr with her balancing herself from falling off the train with her skirt and the pipe

·        With her center of gravity, Clara should have been closer to the train

Body 2 – Final Fantasy

·        Cloud is driving an enormous (heavy motorcycle)

·        He pulls out a sword almost as big as him (it’s probably very heavy)

·        It doesn’t seem to affect his center of gravity as he pulls it out of the holster

·        In one scene the motorcycle, his body, and the sword are all tilting in the same direction, yet he is able to remain in an upright position when the center of gravity should make him fall over in his position

·        There is another scene which shows how his center of gravity would have been correctly balanced

·        Director made the sword seem weightless to create a more intense fighting sequence

Body 3 – My Neighbor Totoro

·        When the baby totoros are running away from May, they seem to walk with their center of gravity in a different place than it would be expected while climbing up a steep rock

·        When May climbs up the same rock, her center of gravity looks to be in the correct spot, allowing her to balance on the rock.

·        This ignored factor allows the totoros to seem more magical

Conclusion

·        All 3 of these movies illustrate the misuse of balance and center or gravity among its subjects

Character Animation

        How I created this stop motion is by using my camera. I took many pictures before I started to put it in quicktime. At first I had my lights on but found out every time when I took the picture it always look to bright to see the character. Then I turn off one of my light then end up no light. First I had a dinosaur but the dinosaur could not stand at all so I found my other toy from digimon and it can stand but some of the poses I had to use my hand to make it stand. Before I took the picture I took the background without the toy. When I finally finish I put into Photoshop and edit out my hand with the eraser tool. It took me two hours or so to finally finish edit with photoshop. Then I put it in quicktime and choose which to delete and which to keep. When finish I covert to movie file.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

 

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Bloopers

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe: Howl’s Moving Castle

The Laws of Physics in Howl’s Moving Castle

                Howl’s Moving Castle was released in the year of 2004 in Japan. Written and directed by the world-renowned Hayao Miyazaki, the animated film grossed 231.7 million dollars worldwide. This intriguing story is based in a world with wizardry and spells set in the midst of a pointless and gruesome war. The main character, Sophie, works in her father’s hat shop and is depicted as a plain girl with not much self-esteem, who just wants to be beautiful. While walking to her sister’s bakery one day, Sophie meets a wizard named Howl who saves her from a couple of soldiers trying to make a move on her. Sophie is immediately charmed and he whisks her away and flies through the air and drops her off at the bakery. Later after Sophie arrived back at her hat shop, the Wicked Witch of the Waste enters the shop and places a spell on Sophie that makes her physically appear as old as she feels emotionally. Sophie then leaves her home in order to try and break the spell placed upon her. Through her journey, Sophie meets demons, sorcerers, and magical things, all which seem to defy the physics of real-world. Miyazaki creates this fictional world, bending and altering the laws of physics as we know it, in order to create a magical world where the laws of time and space and basic physics are bent, inanimate objects are given life, transformations take place, all the while maintaining a believable story.

One of the most obvious deviations from the physics of the real-world was the bending of time and space and basic physics.  Right from the beginning, Howl and Sophie run through the air as if they were walking on the pavement with no aid whatsoever. People cannot fly on their own, so Miyazkai creates the illusion that they can fly with the help of Howl’s magic. Later, once Sophie appears to be an elderly woman, she discovers Howl’s magical front door to his castle. In frame 48242, Sophie realizes that upon the switch of a button, the door will allow the user to basically teleport to different locations (in the movie’s case, different cities). To have such a door in the real-world would be impossible. The entire inside of the house seems to not move, however, the door to the outside is changed. Later in the film when the Wicked Witch of the Waste, a dog, and a scarecrow move in with Howl and Sophie, Howl expands the Castle and creates a new portal by drawing a figure on the floor and utilizing his magic. The walls change shape and new rooms and furniture are created out of thin air. The front door also leads them to different places than it did earlier in the film. Also, later in the film, Sophie is able to time-travel through the front door to see into Howl’s past as to how Calcifer took Howl’s heart. Time traveling is something that is impossible in reality, however, in this movie, it just goes along with the magic. Throughout the Movie, one will also notice a common animation characteristic—inanimate objects are given life and personified. Early on, Sophie meets a scarecrow, who she names “Turnip-Head” who has the ability to stand on his own, hop, follow directions and more. For instance, she tells Turnip-Head to find her a place to stay; the Turnip-Head hopped off and brought her to Howl’s castle. Inside of Howl’s castle, Sophie meets a fire demon named Calcifer. Calcifer has the ability to move, grab, eat, speak, and more. He tells Sophie that he and Howl have a spell cast upon them and he also controls the movement of the castle. The way inanimate objects are allowed to be portrayed as living beings seems plausible in combination with the magical world that is portrayed in the film. For example, it is impossible for fires to speak, grab things, eat, or have a personality. However, since it is stated in the film that Calcifer is a fire demon, he is able to do these things. In the movie when Sophie was cleaning the castle, Calcifer was picked up and almost smothered with ashes turning a blue color to indicate that he was dying. However, Howl blew on Calcifer and brought him back to life. The frames between 60670 and 612300 show Calcifer dying and turning into a blue, cold flame. Then frame 62242 shows Howl blowing life back into Calcifer.  Howl’s castle is also a very special object in the film, as it is named within the title. Howl’s castle walks on four legs, powered by Calcifer. Just looking at the castle move is incredible. The castle is comprised of chimneys, metal, parts of a house, and more. It also resembles a type of an animal with a face, mouth, tongue, legs, and tail. In real-life this castle would be impossible to move, or even stand on its four legs which are far too small to bear the weight of the entire castle. However, the imagination runs wild in the film allowing viewers to imagine a small fire demon the size of a fist is moving a castle the size of a skyscraper. At the end of the film in frame 206970, Howl’s humongous castle is seen flying away into the distance. This is allowed to happen in the movie because it is just assumed that magic is allowing the castle to fly. The bending of the basic physics principles allows viewers to start to believe that this world is different from reality. This also may allow viewers to be more accepting of the new physics laws introduced in the film. In the film, Sophie never seems too terribly surprised at these personified objects, as it is supposed to be a real thing in that fictional world.

Another component which adds to the magical qualities of this film is the transformations the characters undergo. As stated earlier, Sophie is transformed from a young adult into a 90-year-old woman within seconds of the Wicked Witch of the Waste’s spell. Throughout the movie she also seems to get younger in appearance as she gains more self-confidence and feels younger inside.  But, as soon as she begins to doubt herself, she reverts back to her older appearance. In the movie, viewers also witness Howl transform into a bird in order to fight in the war. Also, Howl’s hair changes color because of his magic. It instantly went from blonde to orange to black within seconds because of his mood. Howl also undergoes more transformation. For instance, in frame 74136 Howl arrives back home and starts to revert his transformation and goes back to his human form. It appears painful and it slowly happens. This is more feasible since physical changes in the real-world take time to occur, however, the same type of transformation cannot be achieved in reality. If this were to happen in the real-world, our body would have to change the tissues in our body, and stretch or shrink. A lot of things would have to happen physiologically, and the drastic change achieved in the film is not something that could truly happen, however, it is very intriguing to watch.  Because, the transformation is so slow and painful, it makes Howl seem more real. In another example the end of the movie, Sophie kisses Turnip-Head and thanks him for all his help along her journey and he instantly transforms into a prince. This does not happen and could not happen in real-life and only occurs in fantasy worlds. His entire body shape changed.

In Howl’s Moving Castle there are a lot of magical and imagined occurrences, however, they are detailed in such a way that imagination allows viewers to watch the movie and just be fascinated by this new world. Even though there were numerous physic components that are not physically able to occur in reality, the film still seems believable because a consistency is maintained.  Some laws of time and space and basic physic principles are abandoned and are combined with realistic elements to create an animate film that leaves people wanting more. Contributing to the changed physics of this new world, the inanimate object which were given life  and the transformations that took place all cohesively work together in order to create a fantastic story. The key to changing the physics in a film and still keeping the film believable is to maintain the new laws of physics that is depicted in the movie. Once the physics are changed, they must remain constant throughout the movie; otherwise the audience will be thrown and confused. Although, many of the elements in this animated film are not feasible, it all seems plausible when put together in one film. The laws of physics are altered all the time within the animated film and film industry. This fulfills audience’s craving to see things that are not possible in our world, today.

Outline-The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

                                             Physics in “Howl’s Moving Castle”

I.                    Introduction

a.       Laws of Time and Space Bent To Create Magical World

b.      Inanimate Objects Given Life

c.       Transformations of Appearance

d.      Thesis Statement

II.                  Laws of Time and Space Bent by Magic –Magic door allows characters to change location without moving

a.       Magic Door – different places

b.      Time traveling

III.                Inanimate Objects given Life –

a.       Calcifer - Fire Demon

b.      Turnip Head - Scarecrow

c.       Castle

IV.                Transformations of Appearance

a.       Sophie is physically transformed into an elderly woman

b.      Howl – Transforms into a bird

V.                  Conclucsion

a.       Restatement of Thesis

b.      Summary of Main Points

c.       Implications